Best GTX 460?

cpoullasAug 31, 2010, 7:12 PM

I've been scouting around to find the best upgrade from my former 4850 (defective unit). The best that I have found is the nVidia GTX 460. I am almost 100% set on getting this card, but I don't know exactly which brand to get. I do definitely want to OC the core to atleast 900 MHz, and have it run stable and cool. From what I have read, the best deal around is the MSI 460GTX cyclone: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.455035&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=eg7zhvpn9vIs this the best GTX 460 to get to OC and run at cool temps? I have also read that it runs very smoothly with the MSI Afterburner program, the program I intend to use to overclock the card. I don't want to spend the extra money to get the 1 GB version as I play on a lower resolution moniter (1280x1024), and from what I understand, more RAM is only used for the higher resolutions. I don't want to get a better monitor because I have plugged in my computer to my top-of-the-line full-HD Samsung 52 inch 120 Hz HDTV and noticed no graphical difference in the resolutions from my monitor. I think higher resolutions are overrated for gaming.

Lastly, my PSU is a Corsair TX650. This PSU will sufficiently power the GTX 460, correct?

I would just get an HD5770 at your resolution but yeah, that card and the Asus DirectCU card are the best GTX 460s but the DirectCU is $18 more and doesn't have the free game.That PSU is enough for 2 GTX 460s.

I'm just going to agree with Jyjjy here, we basically suggest the same 460s, so yes the MSI Cyclone and the ASUS DirectCU are the best, get which ever you like the most. Personally I'd get the ASUS, but thats just me both are great.

I don't think he said anything about performance, just "no graphical difference." I disagree myself, the extra size and definition of a better monitor makes a huge difference but I guess some people don't care.

When you've viewing on a TV you don't sit close enough to the screen to notice the difference between anything over 720p, at least I don't, even on my 8 foot wide projector screen, but it makes a big difference on a monitor that sits 24-36 inches from your face. Might be different for others though, I'm a little near sighted.

I didn't see graphical difference when going from full HD (1920x 1024) to my regular monitor (1280 x 1024). This is while playing high graphical intense games such as Crysis and BFBC2. So what you guys are saying is that getting a GTX 460 now is a waste of money? Should I just wait till better cards come available, or until prices go down?

When you've viewing on a TV you don't sit close enough to the screen to notice the difference between anything over 720p, at least I don't, even on my 8 foot wide projector screen, but it makes a big difference on a monitor that sits 24-36 inches from your face. Might be different for others though, I'm a little near sighted.

I may have not seen the graphical differences because of this... I'm going to borrow my brother's full hd Asus monitor and see if there is any difference.

Below is a nice roundup of GTX460 cards from Guru3d. It includes overclocking, and shows the MSI card going over 900 mhz with the Afterburner voltage tweak. Unfortunately, MSI is the only card they tried to tweak the voltage on.

Without tweaking the voltage, the EVGA Superclocked reached the highest overclock (~880 mhz), but most of the other cards were very similar, including the MSI (~850 mhz). Since the MSI Afterburner program should work with all of the cards, you can expect that they will all likely be able to reach your 900 mhz target.

I have also included a Guru3d article on the 1 Gb MSI Cyclone card, which compares it to the 768 Mb version, as well as other brands and GPU's. This article clearly shows the GTX460 blowing away the AMD 5770.

Overall, these reviews logically seem to favor those cards with the highest factory overclock, Palit and EVGA. When you overclock on your own, it will be important to have a good cooler on the card, which the one from MSI has. In the Tom's Hardware article, MSI has the lowest temperatues. If I were you, I would go for the EVGA, Palit, or MSI.

if you dont buy sli today, I would suggest you get Gigabyte 1G OC. the advantage for this card is low noise/low heat. but if you want to go sli today or someday, you should get eVGA card or at least one from eVGA. The fan from second card has to be reference type otherwise there is a potential overheat issue on first card.

How does a reference cooler help? If anything I would think the closed design would be worse if the card has it's airflow being blocked by another. An open design would at least let good case airflow help the situation.

Yep, that is the issue: venting hot air inside vs. outside the case. Most of the custom coolers blow the hot air around inside. I don't think I've run into any articles that have tested the overall difference it makes in case temperatures. And then does it have an effect on CPU temps and heatsink performance?

I'm sure the MSI Hawk is going to be good. But I have the MSI Cyclone, I'm not sure how the Hawk can get much better . It idles down to 27c , even o/c. It downclocks /downvolts. The fan is whisper quiet even at 100%.. My m/b, cpu temps are LOWER than with my external exhaust ati 4770. I have a H50 that draws air from the case as well. I wouldn't believe it, if I didn't see this in action.I have it o/c to 920/1050 . Thats the max. I think there is a little o/c room left on the memory, I put a high flow spot fan over the vrm, some of the memory and was able to clock it almost a 100mhz higher, but saw no real gains. And it was the only time I saw artifacts, so I abandoned any further attempts. The memory and VRM's are lacking heat sinks. I think it would take that and maybe a voltage system with more phases to get the #'s any higher.

How does a reference cooler help? If anything I would think the closed design would be worse if the card has it's airflow being blocked by another. An open design would at least let good case airflow help the situation.

I have read lots customer review on 460. to me seems none reference cooler fan always bring low noise but if your 2 pcie x16 are too close, you will get trouble without using reference cooling fan. at least one should go reference cooler fan

I've been scouting around to find the best upgrade from my former 4850 (defective unit). The best that I have found is the nVidia GTX 460. I am almost 100% set on getting this card, but I don't know exactly which brand to get. I do definitely want to OC the core to atleast 900 MHz, and have it run stable and cool. From what I have read, the best deal around is the MSI 460GTX cyclone: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.455035&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=eg7zhvpn9vIs this the best GTX 460 to get to OC and run at cool temps? I have also read that it runs very smoothly with the MSI Afterburner program, the program I intend to use to overclock the card. I don't want to spend the extra money to get the 1 GB version as I play on a lower resolution moniter (1280x1024), and from what I understand, more RAM is only used for the higher resolutions. I don't want to get a better monitor because I have plugged in my computer to my top-of-the-line full-HD Samsung 52 inch 120 Hz HDTV and noticed no graphical difference in the resolutions from my monitor. I think higher resolutions are overrated for gaming.

Lastly, my PSU is a Corsair TX650. This PSU will sufficiently power the GTX 460, correct?

I hope someone can give me some feedback here, thanks!

Am also playing at 1280 * 1024, and got the 768 mb gtx 460 , and its just great, if u play like 1680 + then get the 1 gb !

I'm pretty set on getting the GTX460 due to the extremely high amounts of good reviews of overclocking it and such, and I love nVidia, absolutely hate ATI. The one thing that caught my eye with the 5830 is the $50 rebate. The thing I don't understand with rebates is if you send them your UPC sticker from the box (requirement of the rebate), doesn't that void your warranty for the card? You wouldn't have a way to RMA the card if it malfunctioned, right? The reason I ask is because I have a defective Asus 4850 that I sent the UPC code to ASUS for a rebate, and now I can't RMA it.

Last question: What exactly is the vital point of a video card that most greatly effects its FPS in games? Is it the core clock, shader clock, memory clock...? I've never understood it.

graphic cards are like women *insert jokes here* you can look at them, check out their measurements, etc., until you actually meet them and spend time with them (reviews & benchmarks) its very difficult to judge them. Unless you compare two exact series cards from the exact same chipset family, most of those stats can go out the window.

hence why its so difficult to understand them...video cards and women

FYI it's a good thing my GF tech ability stops at texting, facebook and using an apple mouse....

the GTX 460 itself is a great card. it runs cool so heat or fan noise is not an issue. you can't go wrong with picking any of them so get the one with the features you like the best. I personally went with the MSI Cyclone because of its cooler, the thing runs whisper silent and card never breaks 50c (34c at idle). The MSI hawk looks very nice but I got my card at launch and it was not available although I still probably would have went with the Cyclone. My GTS 250 had the same cooler as the hawk and it worked great. I have also heard good things about the evga, asus, and gigabyte models so that lead me to quoting myself

"you can't go wrong with picking any of them so get the one with the features you like the best."

the GTX 460 itself is a great card. it runs cool so heat or fan noise is not an issue. you can't go wrong with picking any of them so get the one with the features you like the best. I personally went with the MSI Cyclone because of its cooler, the thing runs whisper silent and card never breaks 50c (34c at idle). The MSI hawk looks very nice but I got my card at launch and it was not available although I still probably would have went with the Cyclone. My GTS 250 had the same cooler as the hawk and it worked great. I have also heard good things about the evga, asus, and gigabyte models so that lead me to quoting myself

"you can't go wrong with picking any of them so get the one with the features you like the best."

I'm almost 100% set on getting the MSI Cyclone GTX460. Plus, I was just checking out a review of the GTX460's at http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3393/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_460_1gb_oc_video_card/index21.html and I found an amazing point at the end of the article: "These two cards have pretty much made the HD 5770 and HD 5830 from ATI redundant. Outside of wanting a triple screen setup off a single card, we're not sure why you would buy that model now the GTX 460 is here". While this article is about the Gigabyte version, the quotes references to the entire 460 lineup. MSI Cyclone, here I come!